One of the main drivers for us ending our Japan trip in Tokyo was to eat teppanyaki at Hakushu and tempura at Tenmasa. We enjoyed ourselves so much at both places on our last trip several years ago, and a repeat visit has been greatly anticipated for quite a while.
So we dropped by Hakushu on a Monday night for dinner. We got terribly lost making our way there because we exited at the Shibuya subway station instead of the JR Shibuya station. We must have walked one round in Shibuya, climbing up and down the bridges, in order to identify the correct area where Hakushu is located at. All that walking and climbing gave us a good appetite.
Monday night was a quiet night for the restaurant. When we arrived we were the second group of customers and the final group customers for the rest of the evening. Which meant that we had the whole restaurant to ourselves, and the chefs had plenty of time to to chat with us. Casual, friendly owners and great food.
It was good to see that since our last visit in 2011, both mother and son are hale-and-hearty, and still running the family business together. They have also hired an assistant – this chap was such good fun to talk to. It is quite amazing how they could understand my pathetic Japanese sufficiently for us to carry on a conversation for nearly 3 hours. Not bad indeed.
Dips for our food – salt with pepper and some kind of ponzu sauce. I could never understand what it is when the chefs announce the dips to me. I can only catch the word ‘shio‘ which is salt. I love eating the grated daikon that is served in Japanese restaurants. Unlike our local radishes that have a slight bitter edge to it, the Japanese daikon is so sweet, I eat piles of it whenever I am in Japan. Low in calories and full of vitamins, not a bad thing to be stuffing your face with.
If you love beef, especially the melt-in-your-mouth, beautifully marbled sort, then you must order their Kobe beef. We tried the Kobe beef during our last visit to Hakushu and was blown away by how good the beef was. Kobe beef is so sinfully rich and absolutely delicious; it is akin to drinking melted butter. On this trip, we decided to skip the beef (since we ate way too much Hida beef in Takayama) and headed for the seafood, which was lighter on the palate.
We always start off with grilled vegetables. Nasu, tamanegi, kabocha. Good, I still remember some Japanese vocabulary.
Up next is GYU-TAN! Pan-fried in some butter. Awfully good.
Prawns. And more butter.
This is our absolute favorite. We could not resist ordering a second helping.
Scallops. Doused in butter. Seriously, with the amount of butter the went into cooking seafood, it may have been no different from eating a slice of fatty Kobe beef.
This is how Hakushu serves their food – on a slice of white sandwich bread which soaks up all the tasty juices of the food. At the end of the meal, your slice of bread is cut into smaller pieces, tossed back onto the teppanyaki pan, pan-fried with a dollop of butter and served as a finishing course. Just like how the Japanese usually finish up a meal with rice, pickles and miso soup. The pan-fried bread was utterly delicious.
Washed everything down with mugs of draft Japanese beef. Asahi, I think.
We had a great time eating and chatting with the owners, exchanging notes about our respective cultures and countries. They are impressed by the Singapore story – how a small island state became prosperous and economically strong. Looking forward to our next visit to Hakushu, hopefully in March next year.
Directions to Hakushu can be found here. The easiest way to the restaurant is to take the Yamanote Line and alight at the JR Shibuya station. Best not to take the subway line to Shibuya, unless you do not mind getting lost and wandering around very crowded Shibuya.
Hakushu has a Facebook page too, but in Japanese.
My usual coffee-hunting trail led me to Itaewon this time. I have not been to this part of the city before, brimming with restaurants serving foreign food. If you crave for Turkish food like kebabs, or Mexican food like nachos, or Indian tandoori chicken, you just have to walk down Itaewon and you will be sure to find something to your liking.
As I was sipping my coffee and watching the world go by, I saw a queue slowly gather at this shop selling churros, through the window of ChansBros. I love churros but would not have time to visit 
I thought that is a very generous portion for KRW2,000. And very delicious too. Crispy on the outside and moist-doughy on the inside. Just the way I like my churros. If I were to buy this and a takeaway coffee, it would be akin to eating our local fried dough fritters dipped in coffee.
Omotesando Koffee is situated in one of the streets behind Omotesando Hills. We made our way quite easily to the cafe from Aoyama using Google Maps. It was a very pleasant stroll along the charming back streets of the Omotesando neighborhood that is away from the main Omotesando boulevard. I don’t think we would have thought of exploring the back streets if not for us having to follow the directions of Google Maps.
The coffee-making station occupied most of the living room space in the house. The only seating space available is a couple of benches in the little garden at the front of the house. Most people buy takeaway coffee, or stand around in the garden if there is standing room.
Easily the best cappuccino that I have ever had. I was amazed at how the latte art doesn’t disappear or get distorted as I drank the cappuccino – it was still intact when I finished drinking my coffee. A definite stop for anyone who loves coffee.
You cannot miss the stall, and the snaking queue, once you walk into Soi 19. SabX2 sells wanton noodles as well as braised pig’s trotters and intestines. The food is prepared out at the front, where you place your orders while in the queue, before being led into the air-conditioned dining room by the extremely efficient wait staff.
Stylo-mylo hawkers. They look like hip-hop dancers, especially the chap wearing the sunnies.
The massive vat containing mouth-watering but cholesterol-laden braised pig’s trotters and intestines. I LOVE innards. Pig innards. Cow innards. Chicken innards. Have not tried sheep innards, but game to give it a try when I get the chance to. I could not wait to stuff my face with intestines. It was during our second visit to the shop that we ate the pig’s intestines. The first time that we were there for lunch, the intestines were sold out. According to the wait staff, the intestines are very popular and sell out usually before lunch. So we made sure to drop by again the next day at 10am for brunch, and ate two plates of intestines and trotters.
Tiny place but air-conditioned, thankfully. Customers are packed like sardines in a can. But no one seems to really mind because everyone is happily tucking into platters of sinful food.
Unctuous. The best braised pig’s intestines that I have eaten. The magic is in the gravy. It is ADDICTIVE. There is a strong hint of five spice powder, but I am sure there are other spices in the concoction. Get hold of that recipe and you will be assured of a perpetual queue AND a ringing cash register in Singapore.
Melt-in-your-mouth cartilage, tendons and pig’s skin soaked in that glorious gravy.
In a back ally where a number of interesting restaurants are located.
Musical notes covering the outer wall of a residence.
I like sitting around watching people. A cornucopia of different things that make up an interesting street scene. It looks messy though – with ugly wires criss-crossing overhead, street vendors parked randomly by the sides of the streets, an array of restaurants, boutiques, cosmetic shops with contrasting facades, fashion-conscious youths, the elderly, and a group of nuns strolling along the streets…
What an eye-catching chicken mascot.
I love dessert crepes, especially the ones that come with fresh bananas and chocolate sauce.
Wandered into a colorful playground across the road from the main entrance of Hongik University.
I saw a number of elderly ladies sailing out of this building. I have no idea what it is used for.
I love the vibrant and colorful cafe scene in Korea. Each and every shop – including the chain stores – looks and feels different. There is almost always a eye-catching decor, or a strong stamp of individual style.
Should have bought one of those bags! I was eyeing the one with orange triangles.
I came across quite a number of soft-serve ice cream parlors that have sprouted up all over Myeongdong and Hongdae after my last trip to SOFTREE in Garosugil. Must say that it was the life-size stand-up of Kim Soo Hyun that first caught my eye.
Stumbled on the Hongdae outlet of 
I was writing posts of my Japan trip in sequential order. Then I got a little bored with doing so, became distracted with doing a bunch of other stuff, and now I am trying to get back to finishing up the Japan posts. I still have one or two more meals in Kyoto that I would like to write about, before going on to Takayama. But I have decided to fast-forward and move on to Tokyo. Abura Soba. The first meal that we ate after arriving in Tokyo from Takayama on the shinkansen. The journey took us several hours and one change of trains at Nagoya. We alighted at Tokyo Station and took the Yamanote Line to our hotel, Royal Park Shiodome at Shimbashi station. Thank goodness the ride from Tokyo Station to Shimbashi station is a short one ‘cos managing two large suitcases on the crowded Yamanote Line was quite a stressful exercise. The great thing about staying at Royal Park Shiodome is the accessibility to three subway stations. The hotel is connected to the Shimbashi station on the Yamanote Line, the Ginza Line and the Asakusa Line. If you fancy having a sushi breakfast early in the morning, Tsujiki Market is just a short walk away. And last point in favor of Royal Park Shiodome – it is one of the few hotel stops on the Haneda airport limousine route. The rooms are a decent size and affordably priced. This hotel is definitely my first choice in Tokyo in the future. Back to Abura Soba. We arrived in Tokyo slightly after lunch, and were feeling hungry after dropping off our bags at the hotel. I wanted to eat cakes at HARBS but the outlet that we visited in nearby Yurakucho was packed. So we decided to look for Abura Soba at Akasaka-Mitsuke which is on the Asakusa Line. We got slightly lost and frustrated trying to look for the right exit in the Akasaka-Mitsuke station – it is quite a huge station – which would lead us to Abura Soba. Finally, we spotted this big, flashy signage which meant that we had arrived at our destination. 
I was ravenous, but couldn’t really figure out how to place the orders using the vending machine. There were so many options, and I gave up trying to work it all out on my own with my very basic knowledge of Japanese. The staff helped us out, and before long, two luscious bowls of ‘dry’ noodles, topped with an onsen egg, scallions, bamboo shoots, nori and thin slices of charsiu were placed before us. We were instructed to toss the noodles and eat. 
Abura means ‘oil’ in Japanese. Unlike the name suggests, these noodles did not taste at all oily, at least not in the way that I would associate ‘oily’ with food. Unctuous, but not oily. I have no idea what goes into the sauce. I suppose it is a special sauce containing ingredients that I can only hazard a guess as to what they are – chili oil, vinegar, soy sauce, *i give up*. Mixing the sauce, the gooey onsen egg and the rest of the ingredients together gave the bowl of noodles an incredible flavor. I usually avoid these fat yellow noodles ‘cos I don’t like the texture and taste, but these ones were so springy and light, like fat versions of Hakata ramen. It was an immensely delicious and satisfying meal. I wanted to pick the bowl up and lick it clean. 
I have just gone back to work after a 8.5 months break. Having led an easy and carefree life for many months, I am facing some adjustment issues of being back working in the fast-paced CBD. I am just not used to the crowds and noise at peak hours and during the lunch hour. 
After experimenting with several bentos for my husband to take to work during my break from work, I am finally making one for myself to take to work. 
I enjoy Korean food too much to eat anything else whenever I am in Seoul. I was shopping at Comme des Garcons when it started to rain, and I was trapped in the beautiful six-storey glass-steel building without an umbrella. So I decided to have lunch at the Rose Bakery located in the CdG building, and wait for the shower to pass. 
I love the bright, airy and spacious feel of the cafe. I gazed out of the windows, imagining how beautiful the street scene would be come autumn, when those gorgeous gingko trees lining the streets turn from green to yellow.
I ordered an omelette sandwich and a glass of wine. I was not expecting the food to be any good. I was also a little put out at having to eat one less Korean meal on this trip. I told myself to just eat a little of the sandwich, finish up the wine and when the rain stops, I would go and get myself a tasty Korean meal somewhere else.
I was wandering around Hongdae looking for the Fell + Cole ice-cream parlor, when I spotted this traditional-looking cafe in front of a large open-air carpark. Looking at the menu that was displayed outside the cafe, the place specializes in patbingsu, a popular Korean shaved ice dessert that comes with a variety of toppings, such as sweetened red bean, or fruits. Quite similar to our 
From the outside, I was expecting Ok Lu Mong to have a rather old-ish decor. But to my surprise, the interior of the cafe looks like a hipster cafe with an industrial vibe – dark and moody atmosphere, exposed lightbulbs swaying from the ceiling, unpainted cement walls. 
I ordered the green tea patbingsu, which came with a generous mound of sweetened red bean, and served in a beautiful brass bowl. The texture of the shaved ice was velvety smooth, almost like eating whipped cream. Unlike our ice-kachang that comes with colored syrup, condensed milk, red beans, cubes of jelly and corn, which makes every bite feel decadent, the Korean patbingsu tastes more bland by comparison. 
